LIPI to Implement Nanotechnology

Jakarta (Antara) - The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) is ready to become Indonesia's leading institution in the implementation of nanotechnology. "The research in nanotechnology has gained significant attention and therefore LIPI is ready to become the leading institution to implement such a technology in Indonesia," chief of LIPI innovation center Bambang Subiyanto said during the Nanotechnology National Workshop here on Wednesday. He noted that since 2008 LIPI has allocated a total funds of Rp30 billion for its material research in nanotechnology. Besides, Bambang said LIPI has also been trusted as the international "focal point" for nanotechnology in Indonesia through the world's professional institutions. "In the future the programs of LIPI are expected to speed up the development of nanotechnology in Indonesia and to have a say in the international community," Bambang said. Meanwhile, LIPI executive secretary Akhmadi Annas said the use of nanotechnology was growing rapidly at present and was accepted by the world. Akhmadi added that the technology was widely used and has undergone standardization process and commercialization. According to the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) in its website, crnano.org, nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale that covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, 'nanotechnology' refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high performance products. (*)